MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Officials call on Cubans to work and embrace economics

Cuban vice president Esteban Lazo

Cuban vice president Esteban Lazo called on his fellow Cubans to understand that “work is essential” and that “we must accept we lack the need for an extraordinary economic culture”.

At the closing ceremony of the 8th Congress of the Cuban Journalists Association (UPEC) at the Havana Convention Center and with President Raul Castro presiding over the final session, Lazo called on the press and journalists to help Cubans understand that work is needed to keep Cuba growing economically. "It's essential to create an understanding of economics among the general population and the value of hard work to meet the country's challenges", he underlined. "Nobody has the right to demand more unless they contribute more", he emphasised and "our press has the challenge to contribute to this battle, which is a battle for all of us. Socialism can only be built on toil and work". Lazo praised the debates of the two day congress, which he said focused on issues like information policy, the formation and training of journalists and the use of information technologies to take Cuba's message to the world. He also pointed out to some of the tasks that Cuba journalists have ahead to make their work more effective. He suggested the need for constructive criticism and a new journalism marked by more in-depth articles. He recalled that the US government and anti-Cuba groups continue to dedicate 2,000 hours of radio and TV transmissions broadcast towards the island aimed at destabilizing and toppling the Cuban Revolution. They even use military aircrafts to beam their misinformation campaign to discredit Cuban government leaders and to distort the objective of economic measures taken in the country, to promote illegal departures from the island and the brain-drain policy, said Lazo. The vicepresident also mentioned some of the biggest threats facing today's world, such as climate change, global warming, air pollution and the contamination of rivers, along with soaring food prices. He posed the challenge to the Cuban press to inform on those issues in a way that educates people and warns them about the impact such phenomena may have on the country. He said an effort must also be made to spread the truth of the advantages of the Cuban socialist system. Lazo went on to note the commitment with the Cuban revolution shown by the journalists throughout their Congress During the closing ceremony, UPEC awarded Fidel Castro the Jose Marti National Extraordinary Award for his permanent and outstanding journalistic work, which dates back to the early 1950's and continues to date. The journalists also named President Raul Castro a member of the organization.